herman bkowk



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

E. H. BROWN.

FIRE ESCAPE. No. 284,808. Patented'Sept. 1&1, 1888.

- illnnmmli y EMMIIIIII HIB tmmllmlr! Wi/{ynes .s e s Tnvenor N. PETERS. Pmm-Liewraphsr. washington. D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

'(No Model.)

E. H. BROWN. 4FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

Wnesses Qiorneyf io building supplied with my fire-escape.

2o pended under a trap-door.

l lNrrnD STATES E. HERMAN BROVN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

'PATENT Grinch.

v FIRE-ESCAPE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.. 284,808, dated `September 11, 1883.

Appncutibn inea July 26,1883. (No model.)

.T- aZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, E.V HERMAN BROWN, residing at Baltimore city, Maryland, have i11- vented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which Figure l is a front elevation of part of a Fig. 2 is a `section thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan of the upper balcony. Fig. 4 is a plan of the second -balcony. Fig. 5 is a plan of the lower balcony. Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the y pole or pipe, showing the clutch or handle in plan View. Fig 7 is an elevation of the clutch and part of the pole or pipe. Fig. 8is a similar view with a modified form of clutch. Fig. 9 is a sectional view, showing a mattress sus- Fig. l0 is a similar View, showing the mattress released and nearly down to the spring-platform. Fig. 11 is a view, showing the means for operating the electric signal, and Fig. l2 is a section of pipe 2 5 'and clutch.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts in all the gures.

My invention has relation to fire-escapes; and it consists in the construction, arrange- 3o ment, and combinations of parts, which will 3 5 resents the front of any building to which it is designed to apply my fire-escape. B BB B are windows or doors 'in the different iioors. (Represented by b b b b.) In front of the windows are erected balconies C C C2, each of 4o which is provided with a floor, C, and suitable guards or railings,C/. There will be as many balconies as there are stories in the building above the first or lower story, and the upper and lower ones will be constructed as herein described, while all the intermediate ones will be alike. Consequently a description of the balcony C, as here shown, will answer for all suchV intermediate ones.

The upper balcony, C, is provided with a hatchway, closed by two oppositely-hinged trap-doors, D. The second balcony is supplied with similar doors,D ,located on the op posite end from those in balcony C, while immediately under the trap-door in the upper balcony the second balcony has a spring-plat form, E. The lower balcony, C2, has similar doors, D2, and platform E, the positions being reversed from those of the second balcony, bringing platform E under doors D D. A pole or pipe, F, is secured by suitable brackets, f,to the building ,above the upper balcony, and, passing downward through trap-doors D D2, and platform E, is again secured to the building below the lower balcony. At the other end of the balconies is a similar pipe or pole, G, secured below the upper balcony,

which, passing down through trap-door D and platform E', is again secured to the building below the lower balcony. The manner of securing the pole or pipe tothe walls may be varied. In this instance I have shown it byV brackets g near the top and extending into the wall at a point, g, near, say, siX feet from the ground, and again emerging near the surface at g2, and, in case a pipe is used, formed at the point Grz with means for connecting hose, thereby making a stand-pipe, through which water can be conducted and delivered at the top of the pipe. The pipe or,pol e is formed of metal or wood, as desired, and is provided on each'side with a groove, f', extending longitudinally, in which the clutch moves, and this vserves to prevent the person using the escape from turning in descending. I

H is a clutch or handle, which is to be grasped by the person descending, by which the speed of descent can be regulated in the following manner: Y

Referring specially toFigs.- 6, 8, and 12, h h are handles extending laterally from the pole, to be grasped by the hands. These handles are secured by pivots h to a' belt or band of metal or leather extending around the poles, the two parts of said band-one on each side of the pole and handles-being marked, respectively, h2 h3. The inner ends, 7L, of the handles extend into the grooves f in the pipe or pole. The friction on the pole may be in creasedu or diminished at will by bearing down or lifting up said handle, the bearing down causing the inner ends, l, to press against the poles, and the raising thereof causing the same to be released.

rIhe trap-doors D D D2 are double, and are hinged,respectively, at front and rear, and are each provided with a semicircular notch to iit over the pole when closed. There is also on each door a wire or rod, d, which rest upon ledges d in the frame-work, and said rods in such position serve as supports upon which to suspend the mattress I, which is perforated and slides on the polewhen released. The release is effected by the opening of the doors. The rods (Z, being not sufficiently stiff to supp ort the weight of the mattress, allow it to fall as soon as it is removed from the support of the ledge. The mattress, when released, falls, sliding down on the pole and landing upon the spring-platform below, thus, with said springplatform and mattress, forming a bed `upon which the descending person lands, obviating all danger of injury by atoo rapid descent. The opening of the door also closes the circuit of an electric alarm mechanism, of whichJ is the key, connected with one wire, j, normally kept in engagement with a metal knob connected with the other wire, j, by the spring J. rIhe rear edge of the door, when closed, presses the upper end of the' key against the action ofthe spring, forcing and maintaining the lower end out of contact with the knob, thus main` taining the circuit broken. The opening of the door allows the spring to act, closing the circuit and sounding the alarm. ,The bell may be located in any part of the building where it will be most likely to be heard, and, in case the building is a hotel or other public structure, may be connected with the annunciator in the oflice.

Fig, 7 shows the clutch with bands of leather, in which case there are two rivets instead of a pivot, and the elasticity of the leather causes the same biting action upon the pole when the handles are raised or lowered as before described.

A The operation of my ,improved device is as follows: A person desiring to descend by. means of my improved device, after emerging from the window or door, raises the trapdoor in the balcony, and, seizing the handles of the cluch and clasping the legs around the pipe or pole, descends to the next lower vbalcony. From the point at which the hands will be when the feet are resting on the spring platform or mattress, the pole is decreased in size, so that the clutch, after being used, will proceeds to the other end thereof, opens the trap-door therein, and slides in the same manner down to the next balcony, the operation being repeated until the ground is reached.

By the description before given of the clutch it will be seen that the speed of the descent can be easily regulated, and if by reason of too great headway of the fire in the upper stories no ordinary alarm can be sounded, the automatic action of the doors will sound the alarm and notify any persons in the lower stories of the fact that the doors have been opened. This automatic alarm upon the opening `of the4 doors will also eil'ectually prevent the escape of absconding lodgers by way of the fireescape. The person descending is protected by suitable nettings, as shown.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isr 1. The fire-escape herein described, consisting of the series of balconies C C C2, the upper one having a hatchway and the two lower ones a hatchway and a spring-platform each, the hatchway in each being in line with the spring platform of the next lower one, and the poles or pipes secured at top and bottom to the wall and passing through the hatchways and spring-platforms, in the manner set forth.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination of a balcony having a hatchwa', trap-doors' closing said hatchway and having'semicircular notches in their edges, a pole passing through said hatchway, and means` for securing the pole to the building above and below the hatchway, as set forth.

3. The combination, 4substantially as described, with a balcony provided with a hatchway, of doors hinged therein and provided with rods d, and a mattress suspended upon said rods, as shown, whereby the opening of IOO the doors automatically releases the mattress,

as set forth.

4. The combination, with the balcony, of the doors having rods d, the frame-work having ledges d', the mattress, and the suspending chain, as set forth.

5. In combination with the balcony, the trapdoors and means, substantially as described, whereby the opening of the doors automatically sounds an alarm, as set forth.

6. In combination, the balcony, the pivoted key, the spring for holding it normally in contact with the knob, the wires, and the hinged trap-doors, whereby an alarm is automatically sounded upon opening the doors, as set forth. y

7. In a fire-escape, a series of balconies having hatchways, a pole or pipe passing through the hatchways and secured to the building, and a clutch-handle, constructed and combined as set forth.

8. In combination with the balconies having hatchways, the pole passing through them and secured to the building, said pole being grooved longitudinally, as set forth.

IIO

9. The clutch-handle herein described, con- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Io sisting of the band encircling the pole, and hand in the presence of two subscribing witthe grip-handles having proj eating inner ends nesses. to press against the pole, for the purpose set 5 forth. EL HERMAN BROVN.

10. The combination, in the clutch-handle, t ofthe bands h3 h2, the-handles, and the piv- Witnesses: ots or rivets for connecting` them, for the pur- JNO. T. MADDOX, pose set forth. S. BRAsHEARs. 

